Gardaí in co-operation with officials from the Eastern Fisheries Board and local anglers have seized a number of vehicles in the past few days as part of an investigation into poaching of fish from several lakes in the northeast.
Gardaí yesterday seized two cars at Capragh Lake near the Meath/Monaghan border as part of the investigation targeting poachers, most of whom are from Latvia and Lithuania.
In an earlier operation, gardaí impounded a car that was stopped beside a lake at Castleblayney where fishery board inspectors intercepted a number of foreign nationals in a boat containing a haul of fish.
A seizure of illegal board-netting was also made at Drumreaske Lake, near Monaghan town.
A Garda spokesman said yesterday the vehicles were impounded under the Road Traffic Act, which empowers the authorities to seize vehicles that do not appear to be covered by insurance in the Republic and are registered outside this jurisdiction.
Paddy Greene, an inspector with the Eastern Regional Fisheries Board, confirmed yesterday that a major crackdown was continuing to halt large-scale removal of fish from lakes in the region, extending over Meath, Louth and Monaghan. He said equipment used by poachers had been seized in recent days at three different lakes in the area.
Local anglers were "extremely concerned" about the depletion of fish stocks and had reported the illicit removal of a variety of fish by foreign nationals.
Despite the recent erection of bilingual signs carrying warnings that it was illegal to remove fish from local lakes, anglers had encountered boats on lakes in the area in recent days containing dead fish, he said.
"This situation is very serious and it is posing a huge threat to tourist angling in the regions," Mr Greene said.
Frankie Poyntz, secretary of Castleblayney Anglers Association, said yesterday that a number of extra bailiffs were sworn in recently by judges in the District Court so that lake patrols could be increased in a major attempt to stop illicit catches.
He said foreign nationals were consuming or distributing their poached catches, which they regard as a delicacy, within their own community. "This is resulting in a serious depletion of trout, perch and coarse fish in the local waters," he said.
A senior Garda spokesman said yesterday that the latest campaign to target "suspect" vehicles is "co-ordinating" the efforts to halt the activities of the poacher gangs.
It is understood a number of files are being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions following recent seizures and several prosecutions are likely.